Spending a Week on Aida – Germany’s Largest Cruise Line

Aida Cruises is Germany’s largest cruise line and now has a fleet of more than 10 ships that travel pretty much all over the world. My first holiday on Aida was when I was a teenager on the Aida Cara which is one of their first ships. Since then Aida ships have grown in size quite a lot. Also the SPA areas and differently themed parts of the ships have become much more sophisticated. Still, I totally loved my first holidays on the Aida cruise ships and maybe because of my first memories but they don’t always go to the places I want to go, unfortunately. I really want to go to the Galapagos Islands on a cruise but Aida don’t cruise there so I’m super close to booking a room on the M/V Legend cruise ship to make it happen! For now, though, I’m content with this Aida cruise!

So I guess you know what’s so amazing about going on a cruise ship? Exactly, every morning you wake up you find yourself somewhere new and have the whole day, and sometimes also the night, to explore. No need for exhausting travel from one place to another, just relax and the cruise ship will take you there.

WHAT IS IT LIKE ONBOAD AN AIDA CRUISE SHIP?

There is a very relaxed atmosphere on the Aida cruise ship with a focus on fitness, wellness and fun. During the day you can hang out on the pool, get a massage in the SPA or join some classes in the gym. Or, the reason WHY you are on a cruise ship in the first place, disembark your swimming hotel and explore the area around you. There are also lots of organised sightseeing tours and other activities that you can book onboard beforehand.

At night you can choose from a number of different buffet-style restaurants as well as a la carte restaurants. There are several shows and activities going on at night, from a musical that is performed in Aida’s theatre to a chill-out lounge club night on the deck. In addition there are various different bars serving wine, cocktails and nibbles. For the younger passengers or the ones that are eager to show their dance moves, there is also a night club where you can dance almost all night long.

Every day has a slightly different theme on the Aida cruise ship – so it will never get boring. What I also like is, although it is very relaxed during the day, at night there is at least some dress code. So whether you feel like wearing your pretty cocktail dress or just wear jeans and a top – with both looks you will fit right in. Guys, no shorts or flip flops at night.

WHO ARE THE PASSENGERS THAT BOOK THEIR CRUISE HOLIDAY WITH AIDA?

Aida’s onboard language is German, so most of the tourists are from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. And given that the programme on board is relatively active the passengers tend to be the same – active and fun. This doesn’t mean though that there are only young people onboard. Au contraire, Aida’s distribution of passengers reminds me on a standard normal curve distribution. For the readers that don’t remember their economic classes anymore, a normally distributed population peaks at its mean value and is then shaped symmetrically around its mean with approx. 95% of the population within two standard deviations of the mean value. The normal distribution is also referred to as the bell curve – so now you should have a clear picture in your head, right? Ok, let’s just say that most of the passengers on the cruise are between 30 and 60 and there are roughly as many 20-30 year olds as there are 60-70 year old passengers. Then there are kids and teenagers as well as passengers that are actually older than 70. And BOTTOM LINE, no matter how old you are, if you are active and up for hanging out with German-speaking people, AIDA is your cruise line :)

It’s just so beautiful to leave a pretty island (here Rhodes) during sunset :)

And if you book a dinner at the a la carte restaurant, you might even get to play with the pretty table decoration :)

I have only been to Germany once and I loved it. I have never been on a cruise before but this ship looks gorgeous! I would love to go on a cruise one day… so I will need to add it to my ever growing Travel list. I bet the restaurant has amazing food too.